Still Breathing
by FloraIrmaTylee
Summary: modern!au. Cinder is a high school graduate drowning in debt who dreams of escaping her proverbial cage. Kai is a massive multi-millionaire movie star tired of spotlight and fame. When the two meet, there's no angelic chorus or dramatic love-struck glances, but there's still something. (Kaider)
1. Chapter 1

**Humf I have so many ROTBTD/ROTBTFD stories in the works so obviously I start getting into a new fandom. I stumbled on The Lunar Chronicles when I was reading Sailor Moon fanfiction, and obviously because I live for modern aus, I found Marissa Meyer's story "To the Gentleman in the Back". I loved it, and thought, I want to read more of her work. Then I found out she was a published author, and- yass. I started reading Cinder and got hooked on the rest of the series. That was a miracle because I'm really picky about what I read (namely, the characters have to be flawed and diverse...im tired of the same old white princessy types). But this series, oh, it doesn't disappoint. Also, modern aus are my lifeblood. That's basically all I ever write/read. Obviously, then, I had to write my own modern!au. And because I have a death wish, I'm writing another multichapter! ha-ha...ha...**

 ** ** _Rated T_**** ** _for bad language, and suggestive content, do keep that in mind, I'm not a very censored person in my writing._**

 **Anyway this is my first time writing these characters, I hope I haven't butchered them that much. Also, I'll try and update soon-ish...but college application time is coming up so I might take forever... I ramble too much, and no one will read this anyway, so... if anyone's got recommendations for good modern!au Lunar Chronicles fic hit me up. I'm super picky tho so I have high standards for fic lol...hence why I never read much fic anymore... urghhh**

* * *

The fluorescent lights above the ancient register are so dim and flickery, it's no longer easy to be alert when they're on. Cinder finds herself falling asleep more often than anything, and it's easy to- the tiny mini-market hardly gets any business as it is, and when business is slow (and it always is- Walmart is _much_ more popular) Cinder's head always dips down and she snaps back up in an instant. That much should be expected, since she's practically the only employee in the place and the market stays open twenty four hours, so she usually takes every shift possible and hardly gets any free time.

Really, when she says she's practically the only employee- she's the only of two employees. And she had to twist her boss's arm to even employ the other employee, who happened to be a bubbly girl named Iko, Cinder's best friend.

"Cinder!" Iko comes out from the aisles holding several boxes of detergent soap, a grin on her face (a grin too big for _one_ in the _morning_ ). "Have you been falling asleep on the job again?"

Cinder groans. "This _doesn't_ count as a job. This is just Adri, telling me I owe her for the 'love and support' I received as a child, so that's why she has me working in her business expenditure." She lays her chin on her fist. "Also, she paid for my prosthetics and I have to pay her back somehow."

Iko snorts, setting her detergent boxes down on the conveyer belt next to the register. "Your adoptive mother really sucks."

"Thanks, Iko," Cinder says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "That's news to me."

"I mean, it doesn't seem like there was much love and support if you ask me- you still turned out bitter, cynical, and an all-around fun-sucking robot."

"Oh, yeah, make fun of the disabled girl," Cinder grumbles when Iko pokes Cinder's prosthetic hand. "And I'm not a robot. I'm just missing some natural parts."

"And you wear gloves all the time, like you're ashamed of it," Iko points out, running her fingers over the thick brown gardening gloves that go up to Cinder's elbows.

"Maybe because I'm tired of being the butt of everyone's jokes?" Cinder tosses Iko a dry look. "I've lost count of how many times people tell me 'that must've cost you an arm and a leg'."

"That's ridiculous. They should say, 'that must've cost you a hand and a foot.'."

Cinder groans again.

"Hey, that was a good one. Come on, admit it. There's no ashamed-ness of your missing limbs," Iko says. "You don't even consider yourself disabled. I mean, you don't even use your handicap parking permit."

"One, I don't have a car, and two, Adri made me get that handicap parking permit so that she could get good parking everywhere," Cinder grumbles.

"But you move so easily, it's like those prosthetics are part of you," Iko shoots Cinder a dazzling smile.

Cinder eyes Iko. "Don't you have a detergent display to put up?"

Iko's smile falls off her face, but only for a split second as she gathers all her detergent boxes again. "This is the social highlight of my week," she announces as she bounds through the empty store towards an aisle at the back. "Putting up boxes in a twenty-four hour mini-mart that no one shops at, for horrible pay and even worse coworkers." Her voice grows faint as she's hidden by racks of chips and refrigerators of beer.

Cinder can't help it, she laughs a little. Iko is the only good part of the job, she supposes. That, and anybody would be willing to partake in a job where they don't do much work, but then again, they get no customers either; other than the occasional drunk party and teens with not-quite-convincing fake IDs. Sometimes, they'll get little kids who try and steal candies, and that's the most interesting thing that's happened, ever.

Maybe anyone else would like a job where they do nothing, but Cinder just gets restless. She's nineteen, been out of high school for a year (same as Iko, they're childhood friends after all) and she hasn't applied to any colleges. She's been saving, sure, but most of her pitiful paycheck goes towards her shitty apartment's rent, water and electricity bills; and the rest goes to Adri as prosthetic payment- Cinder still has another seven thousand dollars to pay off. She's no fool; she knows that will take years unless she can come up with another way to get that much money.

(And no, she refuses to take Iko's advice of getting a sugar daddy/becoming a stripper and/or prostitute)

Cinder picks up an outdated magazine that's only there for show because it's been years since Britney Spears's first marriage, flipping idly through the pages to pass the time. More often than ever, in the early morning hours, she and Iko will talk and make jokes, and that's the one perk that comes with Cinder's job. Because she works such long hours, so does Iko. And Iko doesn't have to, but she gives part of her own paycheck not reserved for bills to Cinder as help towards paying off her debt.

Cinder appreciates it even though she tells Iko not to, and sometimes Iko will treat them out to a lunch that doesn't come from a gas station refrigerator because she spends her few spare dollars on little; she's made an oath to Cinder (completely unnecessary, and Cinder had begged her not to) that Iko wouldn't take college classes unless Cinder did, too. Cinder pretends like that doesn't bother her, because they're best friends, but she does secretly like it that Iko is as unorganized as herself, because there's a strange comfort that comes from not being alone in anything.

Cinder's dozing off again, her head lolling close to falling on the conveyer belt, but then a sharp tingling of bells breaks through her slumber and jolts her awake. Wait, sharp tingling of bells- that can only mean someone's actually entered the store, and Cinder knows that no sane person will be up at one in the morning, so she just hurriedly looks around and hopes that the drunkard who comes in is not a creep.

Cinder only catches a glimpse of a dark hood as the person turns down an aisle, and her suspicions are instantly on alert. Judgmental, maybe she was- but she'd seen enough movies about robbery and juvenile delinquent kids to know that dark hooded figures are not good.

She stays casual about it, though. If there's something she hates, it's being judged on appearances. One thing she can judge on, though, is actions- as in, why the hell this guy is doing, at one in the morning, in a run-down mini mart.

Cinder can hear Iko's off-key humming, so no murder has occurred, or maybe Iko is just so loud in singing that she hadn't heard the door open at all. Cinder looses sight of the hooded figure and starts scanning around before she jumps, seeing that same figure looming in front of her.

To her surprise, the figure is a boy. Well, not a boy per say, more of a man. A man with sharp cheekbones, dark eyes, and thick black hair that gives Cinder an apologetic smile. And that's not something she gets often- smiles. Especially not at one in the morning. (Iko excluded. Iko never stops smiling).

"I'm sorry to bother you," the man starts saying, sheepishly, pushing his hands into his pockets in a way that isn't even unsettling or threatening in any manner, so Cinder slightly relaxes. "But I can't find any other employees, and I just wanted to know- do you sell Funyuns?"

Cinder can't help but let a small laugh escape her lips, because it's so boyishly cute. "Yeah," she says, clearing her throat, probably still with a goofy smile, "Aisle three. Next to the Cheetos."

"Thanks," the guy says, and he comes back a few minutes later with four bags of bright yellow Funyuns, as well as a water bottle that he sets on the conveyer belt.

It could be worse, Cinder decides as she gives him a quick grin and sets to ringing up his items. At least he wasn't trying to buy beer like some beer-gutted alcoholic. Then again, he didn't look any older than being in his twenties, and he seemed sober.

And, if she was being honest, he was kinda cute. Not that she was looking, of course.

"This must get boring."

Cinder looks up as she's bagging his chips. "Hmm?"

"Graveyard shifts," the guy clarifies, looking slightly embarrassed. "I used to work a lot of graveyard shifts. I have irregular sleeping patterns." He tilts his head to the side, looking at Cinder closely.

Cinder smiles but doesn't look him in the eye. "Maybe a little." She hands him two bags, all full of his purchases as he fishes out a wallet. "That'll be fourteen twelve."

The man hands her a twenty, along with another smile, accepting the receipt she held out but not the extra money. "Keep the change."

Cinder's mouth falls open in a very unattractive way, she's sure. "But- that's practically six dollars." Six dollars was a lot of money in retrospect. Spare money that could go towards her debt.

The man gives her a funny look. "Uh- yeah. It's not much, but, you can keep it anyways," he says, looking at the front of the store.

"Oh. Well, thanks," Cinder says, and then she slips that extra (almost) six dollars into the cash register. "Have a nice night." And then she allows herself to look into his eyes and smile, and she hardly has much reason to smile, especially at someone who was really cute. Something flipped in her stomach when he smiled back.

"You too." And then he was gone, with an unexplainably large quantity of onion chips and one water bottle. That was never explained. Cinder watches him leave.

Then she's back to the old magazine, with that one encounter leaving her too energized to sleep again.

"Oh my _God_ I have a new level of respect for you, Adri left me a packet of instructions on how to put up the detergent display- like she'll actually pay attention to how it looks. Or anyone else for that matter," Iko rambles as she tosses a stack of paper onto the register. "We need to replace the lightbulbs above aisle four, by the way. It's out completely."

Cinder shrugs. "Adri won't notice the lightbulbs, probably. The furthest she walks into the store is the front door."

"True- are you going to leave early?" Iko asks. "I could handle it here, and you need sleep. Besides, you managed the whole place yourself last week when I had to take the day off."

"Yes, and we had a record total of five customers in the same hour. Iko, I'm fine," Cinder waves away Iko's concern. "I was thinking, anyway, of talking to Adri. It's unrealistic to expect me to spend every minute of every day in this store; maybe I can convince her to hire more employees."

"But more employees means more people she has to pay. Ergo, we get less money," Iko points out, and Cinder winces.

"That's true." Cinder picks at at the cuticle of one fingernail. "But maybe if we had less hours, I could take on another part-time job. Just to help with my debt, and the apartment."

Iko's contemplating this, Cinder can tell, by the way her face scrunches up. "Maybe you're right," she says, finally, with a smile, "And maybe I can get a job as a waitress or something! That way I can finally meet people. Maybe I'll even get a boyfriend. I mean, it's not like cute guys come waltzing into here."

Cinder's elbow slips off the register and it hits the counter with a large clang. "Oof!"

Iko giggles. "You look really spooked, Cinder. Hey, are you blushing? You never blush. Sometimes, it's like you're actually like a robot because you don't like showing emotion."

"I just got startled, that's all," Cinder defends herself, but she's probably still red and thinking about the cute guy from earlier, which is not what she does. Cinder makes it a rule to never think about being romantically involved with anyone. To not even imagine it. It would just give her another chance to yearn over something she could never have.

Who went for girls with missing limbs, anyway? Not anyone who was whole and normal. And certainly not cute guys that were probably taken.

"Hmm. Something's different about you," Iko declares. "I don't know what, but something is. Maybe you've been sleeping so much at the register you're finally getting your glow back."

Cinder guffaws. "There was never any glow."

"Not with that attitude-" Iko suddenly turns to where her purse is stashed under the counter and takes out a worn pocket mirror with only one crack. "Or maybe it's just the dirt on your face."

Cinder's eyes practically bug out of her head. "Dirt?" she practically snatches away Iko's pocket mirror. " _God_." Iko's right, there's smudges of dirt on her forehead and cheek- most likely from the register/conveyer belt- and her tangled hair messily pulled back into a ponytail looks as if each strand had a mind of its own and decided to jump from the confines of her scrunchies.

"What? Are you actually surprised? We live in dirt, Cinder. It's nothing new."

"Not that," Cinder says quickly, handing Iko back her mirror. "It's just, uh, nothing. It just means I fell asleep again."

"Ha, I knew it!" Iko bounces on her toes.

Cinder wills herself not to think of how unkempt she must've looked to that cute guy that had walked in. It wasn't like he indicated any sort of interest. He was friendly. That was all. And he'd only stopped by to pick up chips, probably because they were the closest area.

Besides, it wasn't like she'd ever see him again.

.

* * *

.

The new recruits are not what Cinder expects; but they're a great help. And, working only twelve hours of the day out of twenty-four is much better, because she's realized that she likes sleep. What a crazy thought.

The first one's name is Carsewell, but he asks everyone to call him Thorne. He's charming, handsome, and tosses flirtatious winks towards both Cinder and Iko several times. Cinder finds out, soon enough, that he's an ex-felon and has only just been released from prison. For what, Cinder doesn't care enough to know, but she does make sure to give him a wide berth whenever he winks at her.

The next one is Ke'ev, who inexplicably goes by the name of Wolf. He takes the morning shifts, and is always the first out the door before the nighttime rolls around. Honestly, his face is so scarred, and he's so bulky, Cinder would have pegged him as the ex-felon, not the cookie-cutter pretty boy like Thorne. But no, background checks on Ke'ev (supplied by Adri) indicated no prison stints, but a lot of volunteering in laboratories. And he had previously been part of a cult whose plan was to assassinate government leaders, sealed by the freaky tattoo on his toned bicep. _Luckily_ , Cinder muses, _both Thorne and Wolf were said to be redeemed and willing employees. Aka, no other place would hire them._

"Aw, jeez," Thorne shakes the mop he's using violently. "This thing is ancient. Didn't any of you ever invest in hiring some cleaning people?"

"That's why you're here and getting paid," Cinder replies flatly, bored out of her mind next to the cash register. Normally Iko would take the night shifts with her, but she'd wanted to sleep and so Thorne volunteered in her place.

Even Wolf had stayed behind- he'd only mumbled something about not needing to go anywhere that night and had gone into the back storeroom to organize boxes.

"I find it hard to believe that I, the beauty of this operation, be stuck on cleaning duty. I think that most people would want a pretty face greeting them when they check out, don't you agree? No offense towards you, of course." Thorne pushes the mop around with no finesse, the soapy suds turning black on the dirty floors.

Cinder rolls her eyes. "I'm here because I know how to use the cash register without being tempted to steal the dollar bills."

"Youch, Cinder, that hurts," Thorne remarks, "And quite frankly I'm surprised you'd even think I would _dare_ -"

"On your first day of work, which was the start of this week, you tried to walk out the door with forty dollars," Cinder deadpans, already really bored, and having no incentive to continue the night shifts in the company of Carsewell Thorne.

"Listen, I didn't think this rinky-dink of a place actually had surveillance cameras, or that your friend was watching me through them. That was really creepy, by the way. She's also cute, though, to be honest. What's her name again? It's so _exotic_ sounding."

Cinder ignores his question. "Don't you have floors to mop?"

"Don't you have _no_ customers to deal with?" Thorne continues pushing the mop around.

"Yes, and you're ruining my concentration," Cinder dryly retorts.

"If you weren't so vicious and badly dressed, you'd be a real catch," Thorne moves on to another aisle, the floor still covered in dirty suds and looking worse than before. "I like my women with a sharp tongue."

"And I'd like you to shut up," Cinder grumbles, feeling her patience wearing thinner, "But it seems like you're incapable of doing that."

"You're breaking my heart here, Cinder." Thorne's voice grows fainter as he moves through the store.

Cinder rolls her eyes again and simply doesn't reply to a guy who doesn't listen. Instead, she grabs another outdated magazine and reads old gossip that no one cares about anymore. Cinder honestly never cared about gossip or mainstream celebrities either, and things like Internet and television weren't necessities in her lifestyle. Thus, she was stuck wondering what had happened to the stars she read about (not curious enough to look it up, though).

"Did you _see_ that? That was a _roach_. Cinder, there's roaches in this store!" Thorne is yelling in an obscenely loud way. Too loud, considering it's only eleven o' clock p.m.

Cinder shakes her head in exasperation.

Wolf comes out from the storeroom, looking around the store uncertainly, boxes of Fritos in his arms. He looks at Cinder and holds up the boxes. "Should these be out in the aisles?" he asks.

Cinder shrugs. "Sure." Wolf heads to do that, but Thorne comes into his path, heading straight towards Cinder.

The mop limply drags behind him, and there's maybe one drop of sweat on Thorne's forehead. "A maid is the only solution for this disaster."

Cinder rolls her eyes. _Again_.

"I could try," Wolf offers in a way that's almost friendly, and Thorne thrusts the mop into Wolf's hands.

"I'm telling you, this thing is medieval. I don't see how anyone could even possibly use-"

Wolf raises both of his eyebrows and talks over Thorne. "Where's the mop bucket? Have you been ringing it out?"

Thorne looks scandalized. "Why would you ring it out? I thought the whole point of a mop was for it to be wet."

Wolf sighs. "I'll get a spare bucket."

Once Wolf is gone, Thorne stretches himself against the cash register. Cinder gives him a frown.

"You know, I'm kind of surprised this place stays open. It probably gets like twenty customers on a good day," Thorne starts saying, turning to face the store's front window while Cinder is arranging coins in the register. "Oh, God. He's back."

"Who's back?" Cinder asks flatly, more to keep him rambling so he won't annoy her.

"That guy who's always wearing the too-big sunglasses and that ominous hood- and all he buys are Funyuns, it's really weird. He keeps coming back and buying Funyuns and quite frankly I'm afraid to learn what he might be doing with all those chips."

The front door jingles and opens, right as Cinder's head snaps up to survey the scene. Sure enough, it was the same cute guy from the week before.

"How many times has he come?" Cinder asks as casually as she can, turning away so she won't make eye contact with the guy.

"I don't know- maybe three times? He always comes in like he's in a hurry, buys chips, and then he leaves. It's like he's waiting for something here. Which he shouldn't, 'cause this place doesn't have anything else to offer besides those foul yellow onion rings." Thorne looks over to where the guy is looking through the chips for more Funyuns. "He's really familiar though, isn't he? Like I've seen him before. But that can't be true unless he's served time, because those are the only kinds of people I've seen for six years."

Cinder ignores Thorne and shoos him away when the guy approaches. "Leave," she hisses to Thorne.

"Jesus, Cinder, fine. I'm leaving," Thorne tosses his hands up in surrender and moves to where Wolf is quietly mopping.

"Hi," the guy is smiling when he sees Cinder, and he looks so relieved. "I was starting to think you didn't work here anymore."

Cinder is taken aback by that comment, because that would mean that this guy had been purposefully going into the mini-mart in search of Cinder. She idly wonders what her hair looks like now- and hopefully it's not as messy as before.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I still work here." And then she stops talking. _Idiot_!

The guy sets a bag of Funyuns and another water bottle on the conveyer belt, and Cinder rings them up easily. As she's bagged them and hands it to him, she opens the cash register and begins to say the total before he cuts her off.

"What's your name?" he asks. "You, uh, don't wear a name tag or anything."

Cinder closes her mouth but then opens it a split second later. Before she can even think, she hears herself saying, "It's Cinder."

"Cinder," the guy repeats, and then he smiles. "I'm Kai. Nice to meet you."

Cinder smiles back. "Nice to meet you too." Then, she looks back to the total. "Um, that's four thirty-eight."

Kai hands her a ten dollar bill, and before Cinder can give him change and his receipt, he takes the receipt.

"Keep the change," he says, still brightly smiley, and Cinder tries to keep eye contact without blushing.

"Thanks," she says softly, more quietly than she intends.

"See you around," Kai says as a parting farewell, and Cinder almost laughs.

"See you," she replies, and this time she does blush. She can't help it. And she watches Kai leave the store, his name a repeating mantra in her head. _Kai_. It's so simple, and it fits his features so well.

And mayyybe she sort of checks him out. But only a little before she sets his money into the register and goes back to blushing, contentedly, on her own.

For approximately two seconds.

"Cinder, were you _flirting_ with that guy?" Thorne comes back waggling his eyebrows. "It's like he knew you. An ex-boyfriend? Do you have a current boyfriend? The boy next door or something?"

Cinder rolls her eyes (and she does that a lot when Thorne's around, that would make maybe the fourth time in the span of fifteen minutes). "No. He's not _anything_. He came here once, and I rang him up before."

"Not _once_ , he came here like three times- and when _I_ rang him up, he was just looking all over the store like he was expecting someone," Thorne throws Cinder a knowing grin. "Look at you, Cinder- picking up boys in hoods- isn't that a band? Boys in the hood? I feel like it is, but I could be wrong, I've been in prison for a while..."

"No one's picking up boys," Cinder scowls. "I don't know him."

"But you want to," Thorne says, and Cinder won't admit it, but she thinks the same thing.

"No," she lies effortlessly. "Don't you have anything useful to do here, in this store?"

Thorne looks around. "Hmm, your boyfriend is the only customer we've had for about two hours, so no, I don't think so. What's his deal with the Funyuns, anyway? Is he allergic to Doritos?"

Cinder grits her teeth. "He's not my-"

"Fine, fine, he's not your boyfriend, but the Funyuns thing is creepy. If you ever date him, give him a mint before you stick your tongue down his throat, because _I_ once kissed a girl who had a bag of Funyuns and her breath smelled like death."

Cinder gives him an angry glare. "I think this could classify as harassment."

"You say harassment, I say friendship. Hey, does that friend of yours have a name? Maybe he's on Facebook," Thorne is already busying himself by pulling out a phone and logging into his own account.

Cinder side eyes him for a second before she figures he won't find anything. "His name is Kai," she says, finally.

Thorne types that in. "Look, there's lots of Kais! Which one's yours? The old, balding Japanese man?" He shoves a picture of an overweight man in Cinder's face.

"Jesus," Cinder swats it away, "You can't just assume someone's Japanese by a profile picture. And no, that's not him. You've seen him, Thorne!"

Thorne cackles. "I'm having fun, Cinder, maybe you should try it sometime." He looks through each profile. "Nope, doesn't look like he's on Facebook, but I'll see what I can find out eventually."

"Don't do that," Cinder starts, but Thorne cuts her off.

"I'm no hacker, but if he comes back to get some more of you, maybe we can get a last name. Or you'll get a phone number. Hey, maybe we could set a line of Funyuns on the pavement and he'll come running-"

Cinder smacks Thorne's shoulder with a frown. "I do not want to look up this guy. And I'm not going to get his phone number."

"You're not?" Thorne sounds surprised. "I mean, let's be honest. Right there's a guy that's interested in you, and since you're bitter and all alone, I'd think all girls would want to be clamoring all over finding a boyfriend."

"He's not interested in me, Thorne- can't you go annoy Wolf?" Cinder leans against the register.

Thorne tosses a casual look over his shoulder, where Wolf is swirling the mop on the dirty floor. He lowers his voice to a dramatic whisper. "He's _scary_."

Cinder rolls her eyes, _again_. "You went to _jail_ , Thorne. Aren't those jailbirds more threatening than him?"

"Are you kidding?" Thorne says in disbelief. " _No_! I was in a special ward. Solitary confinement for trouble inmates. I didn't see any scary people. Well, I did before I was put into my single cell, but they all looked like Wolf anyway."

Cinder raises one eyebrow. "Why were you a trouble inmate?"

"Oh, I was trying to protest the soap they gave us in the showers- don't laugh," Thorne says when he sees Cinder crack a smile, "My skin is _sensitive_."

"I'm sure," Cinder bites back another smile.

"Look at that, Cinder laughs at the misery of other people," Thorne grumbles, "Why am I not surprised."

Cinder gives Thorne a shove. "I just can't believe the jail thought _you_ were the trouble inmate because you didn't like their soap."

"I wasn't exactly complaining on ending up in solitary confinement. Do you know what happens in prisons, Cinder?" Thorne frowns.

"I do, and I really don't need any details if any sort of thing like that happened to you."

"Jesus, Cinder, I'm not that desperate!" Thorne exclaims. "And I wasn't stupid, either, just so you're aware."

"I can imagine," Cinder says, shaking her head. "Actually, I don't want to imagine that, it's disgusting and wrong."

"I said I never partook in those kinds of activities!" Thorne insists. "And I never joined a gang. Which is more than your other coworker can say."

Cinder ignores the jab at Wolf only because Wolf just sort of smiles and Thorne is moving on by googling the name 'Kai'.

Cinder snorts. "Kai is a common name, Thorne. You could be spelling it wrong, and even if this guy is on the internet, he wouldn't be showing up on the first link."

Thorne's already loaded the page, and he bats off Cinder's skepticism with one hand. "You have no faith in me, Cinder-" Thorne trails off as the result page for 'Kai' shows up. "Holy shit."

Wolf gives Thorne a sharp look.

"Right, sorry, you don't cuss- Cinder, look at this. Your boyfriend is a _millionaire_."

Wolf peers curiously at Thorne's phone. Cinder lets herself look, but only after calling Thorne bluff. The bright little screen shows off a glowing, professional, smiling Kai that Cinder recognizes. Her stomach drops, because his hair is shorter in the picture and his arm is around the most beautiful woman she's ever seen.

Cinder's mouth is open. "How?"

"The first search option gave me his picture," Thorne keeps scrolling, clicking on a link. "His full name is Kai Prince."

As much as Cinder hates to admit it, her mind is going back to the beautiful woman photographed with Kai. And she swallows hard. "So?"

Thorne is already googling 'Kai Prince net worth'. "Shit, Cinder, your boyfriend's worth three hundred million _dollars_. How are you not freaking out?!"

Wolf looks mildly impressed, and he nods, just once. "At least he's not a politician."

Cinder ignores the sinking feeling that comes with staring at Kai's picture for so long. She recognizes the feeling; it's the feeling of looking at something she could never have, and she almost wants to have. And it's a horrible feeling, because she's always made herself not want anything.

"Jesus Christ," Thorne looks at the screen, and his face is amazed. "He's won an _Oscar_ , Cinder. An _Oscar_. That means he could one-up Leonardo Dicaprio- and hardly anyone can one-up Dicaprio."

Cinder refuses to blush on top of everything. "So?" she raises her eyebrows. "It's not like I know him personally."

"Yeah, but for a second I thought you had a shot. Oh well." Thorne continues looking through Kai's Wikipedia page. "He's been rumored to be secretly dating Levana Lunar, whoever that is- apparently they're always seen together-" Thorne's mouth falls open as he looks at the same beautiful woman from the previous picture. Cinder looks away. "Fuck. She's _hot_."

Wolf coughs. "Not the f-word."

"Jesus, Wolf, for someone who joined a gang, you sure hate the word _fuck_. I'd assume most gangs are okay with coarse language," Thorne points out.

Wolf looks at the floor. "We were an organization," he mumbles, like he doesn't care to explain, but then he glares at Thorne. "It's none of your business."

"Okay, I got it," Thorne raises his hands in defense. "Nothing about your _organization_. Do you think he'll come back, Cinder? I mean, it's plausible, I'd say, don't you think so? If he came back _before_..."

"Well, he's not going to come back anymore," Wolf says, "If he's been spotted here."

"I can't believe I never recognized him," Thorne ignores Wolf. "Can you imagine? I mean, usually I'm on top of _everything_ -"

"Until you went to prison," Cinder says, flatly. "So you wouldn't know him anyway."

"Hey, Cinder, park that attitude at the curb- it's not like _you_ recognized him, hmm?" Thorne crosses his arms.

"That's just because I don't watch movies," Cinder snaps.

" _God_ , I was just _asking_. Why is everyone so mean to me?" Thorne leans against the counter.

The door bell jangles, and then the three all look up to see Iko come running in.

"Ohmygod!" she screeches, panting loudly. " _Ohmygod_!"

Wolf leaves the room, muttering something about going to do something useful.

"Iko?" Cinder looks at the clock. "It's _midnight_. You're supposed to be _sleeping_."

Iko is hunched over, her braids falling over her forehead and rumpled pajama pants scrunched around her knees like she's gotten out of bed in a hurry. "Ohmygod!" she only screeches again. " _Ohmygod_!"

"I'm confused," Thorne announces, raising his hand and waving it.

Iko is flapping her hands around and gasping for air, looking every bit like a fish out of water with the way her eyes bulge. "It's- it's- _ohmygod_! You guys never said _anything_!"

"Yes. We do think that you should talk less," Thorne says.

Iko ignores him and directs her topic towards Cinder. "I was sleeping, and my phone woke me up! I always set alarms," she adds, seeing how confused Cinder looks, "For when news-worthy things happen regarding my fav celebs. And, Kai Prince was photographed leaving _this store!_!"

"Oh. Honestly, he's not _that_ good-looking," Thorne grumbles. "No real substance. And his acting's shit, probably."

Cinder gives Thorne a side glare, but then she turns back to Iko. "Well, we, uh- we didn't see him. He probably just came in to look and then he left. Most everyone does that, actually, and even if he did stop in, it's not like I'd know who Kai Prince is. Anyone can have black hair, you know. Besides-"

Iko pokes Cinder in the side and gleefully smiles. "You met him!" she exclaims. "Come on, Cinder, you only start rambling when you lie."

"I do not," Cinder replies stubbornly, but Iko ignores her.

"Tell me all about him. What's he like? Did he offer to give you an autograph?" Iko gasps. "Did you actually _get_ an autograph?"

"No!" Cinder waves her hands. "Nothing like that. He came in to buy some stuff and that's it. I didn't even know he was a movie star."

Iko's mouth falls open. "I'm so ashamed of you, Cinder. You'd think if we were dirt poor you'd at least master the art of illegally watching movies at the library. Honestly, it's like I've never taught you anything."

Cinder rolls her eyes. "The closest I get to movies is monitoring the security cameras in the backroom."

Iko lights up. "The security cameras!" she claps her hands excitedly. "Are they working? Let's go look at the footage!"

Thorne scoffs. "Like that will credit his acting skills. I think not."

Iko continues to pointedly ignore him (it was probably the jab at Kai's acting talent) but she does grab Cinder's hand and pull her into the back storage room where Wolf is stacking boxes of Pringles on top of each other.

"I have to find my future husband!" Iko shoos Wolf away from where he's standing in front of the monitor.

Wolf confusedly looks at the stacked boxes. "Is he hiding in here?"

Iko is already opening the files of the previous hour's video, smiling so giddily that Cinder can't help but peer along with her. Thorne follows, watching. There is no volume on the video, but Iko zooms in so much, she can see every smile interchanged between Kai and Cinder.

Iko sighs. "He's _gorgeous_."

Thorne humphs. "He's _okay_."

"He's _smiling_ at you, Cinder- what's that? Are you actually smiling _back_?" Iko is beaming, and Cinder is uncomfortable. "I knew you thought he was cute!"

"It's not like that," Cinder rolls her eyes, "It's nothing, anyway, he was just another customer."

"A customer that told you his actual, famous name," Thorne points out.

Iko shrilly squeals. "He gave you his _name_?!"

"Kai is a common name," Cinder starts, but Iko cuts her off.

"Cinder, you're talking about one of the most famous actors on the planet! He always wears disguises if he's in public. That's, like, a _given_. So why would he give you his _name_?" Iko is too excited over nothing, in Cinder's opinion.

"Common courtesy?" Cinder says, but Iko keeps talking.

"Cinder, do any of the customers introduce themselves to you?" she asks, crossing her arms.

"No," Cinder mumbles, looking at the floor.

" _Exactly_. This has to mean _something_ ," Iko says, and then she claps her hands. "Maybe he'll ask you out!"

"Or maybe he's trying to get lucky," Thorne pipes up.

Iko throws him a dirty look. "Kai is a _gentleman_ , Thorne."

Thorne scoffs (again). " _Sure_ he is."

Wolf, who's been silently sitting in a corner of the back room, speaks up. "So why did this movie star even come here at all? If he's rich, he should have someone to buy chips for him."

Iko sighs dreamily. "Because he and I are _destined_ to meet someday."

"He's not _that_ great," Thorne reiterates sullenly.

Cinder rolls her eyes. "He's never going to come back, Iko. There's a whole bunch of other stores he could go to."

Iko pouts. "But we're destined."

Thorne is clearly upset about not being Iko's go-to cute guy, so he sulks silently, repeating his new mantra. "He's not that great."

"Take it from someone who's used to stalking high-profile people," Wolf says, while his coworkers exchange baffled looks. "He's probably up to no good if he's being unchaperoned and giving away personal information."

Cinder shuts off the security monitor. "What would that even mean?"

Wolf shrugs. "I didn't spend that much time in the organization to learn pattern behavior theory."

"Oookay," Thorne trails, "Besides Wolf's bizarre-o gang, we have a multi-millionaire movie star who's giving Cinder his name and his cute little smiles, and that's it. Oh, and we know he loves Funyuns. Now what?"

"Now nothing," Cinder moves to exit the room. "He's not going to come back."


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow...do you wanna know what I said would prevent me from writing this story? College applications. And you know what I haven't even worked on? College applications, which are due next week... I'm a mess, really, but I'm also LC trash, so there's that. Sorry that this chapter's really just a filler and short and also that there's like no Kaider...but next chapter, there will be plenty of Kaider. And who knows, maybe some other characters will show up ;)**

 **I finished Winter (obvy) a while ago, but I'm officially Jacin/Winter trash, and also every moment in the book killed me and then resuscitated me all at once. Also im like lowkey shipping Iko with that one guard Kinney, so he's mentioned like once in the chapter, lol.**

 **I'm addicted to this book series and I need like five hundred cute fics of any of those ships. Ah, well, thank you to the reviewers and readers that commented/gave the fic a chance! I admit it's not as interesting as I'd like it to be, but I've decided it's mainly going to be a cute Kaider centric fic is all to avoid dragging this multichapter out.**

 **the an's getting longer than the actual chapter lol. im sorry that wolf's not even in this at all, since he's the bae, but oh well he'll be back**

* * *

"Do you ever wonder why Wolf always leaves before the sun sets?" Thorne asks, idly, seated on top of a stack of boxes in the back storeroom.

Cinder glares at him over the unpacking of several value-brand deodorants. "No. That's his business." She resists the urge to add something else biting or witty about _Thorne's_ personal life, but then thinks better about hurting his fragile ego and instead cuts open another box of hygiene products.

"Well, I do. I have theories, too. Wanna hear?"

"Sure," Cinder replies, sarcastically, which makes Thorne's face light up.

"I knew you'd agree. _One_ , he's like a reverse vampire; he can't be in the moonlight. _Two_ , he's living a very Hannah Montana double life as a cabaret singer. _Three_ -" Thorne is ticking off possibilities on his fingers, and Cinder rolls her eyes, cutting him off.

"There's no such thing as a reverse vampire," she says, "And you've never heard him sing."

Thorne crosses his arms. "You have no imagination, Cinder. Consider this: there's very limited options to nighttime jobs." He pauses, musing this over. "Maybe he's a male escort. Those are in very high demand nowadays."

"He doesn't strike me as the type," Cinder tiredly lugs another few boxes into her work area.

"Well, what else beckons to him in the tempting moonlight?" Thorne takes on a flowery, and rather horrid, English accent as he says this. "Maybe he has a secret family. Wouldn't that be weird? _I_ think that it would be weird. I can't imagine Wolf as a father-"

Cinder tosses a box opener onto Thorne's lap, causing Thorne to jump with a loud yelp. "Make yourself useful, won't you? If you're not going to help back here, I'll stick you on cleaning duty with Iko in the front."

Thorne sulkily picks up the box opener. "This has a _blade_ , you could have _killed_ me, and I'm mad at Iko, so I won't go out into the front."

Cinder sighs. "You're not still talking about-"

"She told me I'm her _second_ favorite guy, Cinder. Right after Kai Prince. How am I supposed to cope?" Thorne dramatically presses the box opener against his chest.

Cinder feels her cheeks flame, almost involuntarily. She can't help the fact that she's blushing, because she finds that she usually does so at the mention of Kai. Despite the fact that his sighting occurred weeks ago, and he has not returned, Iko hasn't gotten over it, and truthfully, neither has Cinder. Despite every radical part of herself screaming that Kai would never like her, it was hard to stop thinking about every valid point Iko had brought up about Kai never giving his name to just anybody.

 _But of course, it still wasn't like he'd ever return_.

"Hello, Earth to Cinder. This box won't open," Thorne is struggling to rip through the packing tape of a small square box, his eyebrows drawn together with frustration. "I don't see how you manage to do this for so long."

Cinder takes the box and its opener, cuts through the tape swiftly, and hands Thorne back the box so he can unpack it, but the box's lid opens slightly to reveal bright bags of purple and orange.

"It's just cheap Halloween candy," Cinder says, mouth pursed in distaste, "Probably expired, seeing how Halloween passed. Just throw them out."

Rather than heed her instructions, Thorne rifles through the bags. "There are the worst candy names I've ever heard. Skele-bars? Not even imaginative, just skeletons on chocolate bars. Vampire blood capsules- they didn't even try, they're just red gumballs, come on; something called werewolf bits, it's literally just-" Thorne pauses mid sentence. " _Cinder_."

"What?" Cinder goes through the boxes, looking for more Halloween candy that needs to be disposed of, reading labels and grabbing a marker to mark them with x shapes if they contain the spoiled sweets.

" _Wolf_ is a were _wolf_!" Thorne happily cries out. "It's literally in his name! How come I never saw that before? It makes perfect sense. He has to leave before the night of the full moon..."

"Wolf is not a werewolf, Thorne, he spent the night shift with us that once," Cinder reminds Thorne, feeling herself slowly getting fed up with his antics. "I think I'll go take over the cashier's station for a while. Give Iko a break."

"And what about me?" Thorne makes a face, studying all the unpacked boxes.

"You can stay here," Cinder closes the back storeroom door while Thorne's protest gets muffled by the closing barrier.

Up front, Iko has no customers, and she's bored, tapping her fingers against the cash register, and when she sees Cinder, she lights up.

"Thank God!" Iko cries. "I need some gossip. Tell me you have some."

Cinder raises on eyebrow. "I have no gossip- unless you count Thorne's theory of Wolf being a werewolf, which I don't."

Iko pouts, dropping back against the cash register. "That's no fun."

"My point exactly." Cinder leans against the conveyer stand, crossing her arms. "There's still another three hours in this shift, and it's only two in the morning."

Iko groans, but then she grins. "Oh well, it'll just be Wolf and Thorne in the morning anyway. We're going to have all day to sleep- or we could always torrent illegal movies!"

"Yeah...I'll sleep," Cinder deadpans.

"Spoilsport," Iko sticks out her tongue, but then she grins again. "We could watch _Kai Prince_ movies..."

"No," Cinder protests. "You have to let this _go_ , that was like two weeks ago, he's not going to come back."

"But we have a _chance_!" Iko bounds up and down on the balls of her heels.

" _We_?" Cinder chides, smiling goofily.

"But only if you two didn't work out. Then I'd move in," Iko says, beaming like that's better.

Cinder laughs. "He'd like you a lot more than me, Iko."

Iko sighs, dreamily. "Don't tease me, Cinder. I've already got my sights set on your really cute babies. Or wedding day. Whichever comes first. Hey, don't make that face, it's the twenty-first century, not everyone wants to get married."

"I spoke to him for about one minute, right?" Cinder tosses a look at Iko that is clearly unimpressed.

"C'mon, Cinder, you can't blame me for _hoping_ ," Iko says, staring at the clock. "I need some excitement in my life, and my excitement comes in the form of hoping you marry a super hot actor."

Cinder snorts. "Yeah. That'll happen." She glances towards the back storage room where Thorne is oddly quiet and not complaining, so Cinder's first thought is that he's died, because Thorne never _not_ complains. "Thorne's probably forgotten how to use a box cutter. Maybe I should check on him."

"I'll go," Iko volunteers, jumping away from the cash register rather gladly. "I'm bored, and flirting with Thorne is _fun_. He always gets really pouty, and he's cute when he pouts."

Cinder eyes Iko. "Not actual flirting, I hope."

Iko laughs. "We only flirt occasionally. I don't like him past his super-cute face, fyi, it's what we do."

Cinder waves her away. "I'll stay behind, with the off chance that we actually get any customers this late at night. Or, early in the morning; it's already two."

Iko is already bounding towards the back. "Okay!" she calls over her shoulder.

No sooner has Iko left than the door to the store opens and somebody ducks inside, a flash of a black hoodie catching Cinder's attention.

But it couldn't be...

The figure is gone before Cinder can clearly see them, but she wills herself to wait patiently at the cash register. Even if it is Kai, he'll check out eventually. But she forces herself to squash down any remaining hope that dares to linger in her mind, because Kai is taken. Anyway.

Cinder acts nonchalant as she flips through a magazine, but her nerves are jumping when she catches sight of a familiar packet of Funyuns and a water bottle are produced in the person's hands.

When they get close enough, Cinder tucks a piece of escaped hair behind her ear and looks them in the eyes.

It's Kai. Looking apologetic and somewhat sheepish as he takes off a pair of sunglasses.

"Hi," he says, like he's relieved. Like he's been waiting to talk to Cinder again.

"Hello," Cinder replies, airily, hoping she sounds professional as she reaches for his items. "Just this?"

"Yeah," Kai says, somewhat- disappointed? "Just this." His hands go into his pockets nervously, or at least Cinder thinks he's nervous. Normally, she's good at judging the mannerisms and expressions of people, and she's even better at deducing if a person is lying, but something about Kai messes up her judgement.

The only noise is the sound of the cash register beeping. Cinder clears her throat. "Four thirty-eight is your total."

Kai gets a five dollar bill out of his pocket, and places it into Cinder's gloved hand. She puts the bill into the cash register.

"Sixty-two cents is your change," Cinder says, handing over the coins, still decidedly not looking at Kai's face.

"Thanks," he says, and then he moves to leave. He's the only customer, though, and so he lingers, looking at Cinder, who's pretending to be very busy with brushing ancient dust off the ancient cash register.

He sticks his hands in his pockets, but he leaves his sunglasses off on the counter. "You know, huh?"

Cinder doesn't look up. "Know what?"

"Who I am."

Cinder does look up at that, and Kai has a sheepish smile that's still disappointed, but somehow more mild than his first look.

"I-" she trails, and she almost blushes, but she catches herself in time to avoid coloring.

"It's okay." Kai grabs his sunglasses. "I guess I just thought...that you didn't. It was nice." He puts them on, turns to leave.

"Well, I found out recently," Cinder hears herself speak and her heart race. It was dumb to say anything at all, really, so she shuts up for about a second before she keeps talking and making the situation worse. "Sorry. That's not my business. Um, have a nice day."

The strangest thing happens.

Kai looks at her, taking off his sunglasses again.

And he laughs.

It's a genuinely cute laugh, and then he shakes his head, his hood slipping away from his forehead. "Not to be conceited, or anything, but- do you live under a rock?" He says it jokingly, and Cinder believes him enough to joke back.

Cinder finds that her words come out a lot flirty-er than she intends them to be as she leans slightly forward. "Yeah. The weather's nice down there."

Kai smiles. Still a _really_ cute smile. "So you're not the one who alerted the gossip blogs."

Cinder shakes her head and wills herself to look away from Kai's entrancing brown eyes that are unfairly _adorable_. "No. None of my coworkers from that day did, either. Um- one's against the whole capitalist society, and the other one's just out of prison."

Kai nods, raising his eyebrows. "Well, they sound lively."

Cinder looks to the back where she knows Iko and Thorne are, wondering if they've watching her through the security cameras. Her fingers fiddle with the ends of her gloves nervously. "They _sound_ worse than they actually are."

Kai grins. "I'll take your word for it." He looks around the store, seeing as it's empty, and then he turns back to Cinder with a doting gaze that makes her duck her line of vision towards the floor. "Do you take lunch breaks?"

Cinder can't help it, she looks into Kai's eyes then, and they're inviting and warm and still fucking _cute_. "Usually, depending on customer flow," she says, and then she boldly crosses her arms and shrugs her shoulders. "As you can see, we're swamped." This, said teasingly, prompts a chuckle from Kai.

"I see. Maybe you could spare a half hour to just talk with me?" Kai asks, and he sticks his hands in his pockets. "Someplace nearby. And I'd have to wear these lame glasses. But, it would be cool."

Cinder feels herself blush against her will. "Uh- I shouldn't. Really. I'm on the clock right now, and the only place open at this hour is Wal-Mart." The end of her sentence makes Kai crack a grin.

"I understand," Kai looks to the door. There's still no one in sight, so he puts his sunglasses back on a little slower. "Maybe some other time."

"Yeah," Cinder says, "Maybe some other time." She doesn't really mean it, but honestly, he's a multi-millionaire who could pay money to have someone else spend time/talk with him. Like, his über-pretty rumored girlfriend.

"I almost forgot," Kai says, and then he reaches into his wallet. "I always have you keep the change."

"No, it's fine, it's only a few cents, it doesn't matter," Cinder protests, but Kai gets out a pen and crisp dollar bill, writing something on it.

He hands over the written-on bill. "Well, bye. Maybe I'll see you again."

Cinder takes it and studies the writing, giving a little laugh when she sees that he's penned a question asking when her day off is, along with a phone number.

And then she lets herself look at Kai, and perhaps because Kai is wearing sunglasses, she can stare into his face and say, "Maybe you will." With a smile. A large smile that makes her want to kick herself, because she's probably embarrassing.

By the time Kai actually leaves, Cinder is unusually happy to be sitting at a cash register, staring at the front window.

Thorne comes into the store whistling off-key, with arms full of empty boxes. He takes one look at Cinder and comes closer, his mouth twisted into a suspicious line. "Are you high?" he asks, finally.

"Thorne!" Cinder jumps, eyes wide, startled at his sudden intrusion.

"Because if you've been holding out on me, Cinder, that's really low," Thorne says.

Cinder groans. "I do not have drugs, Thorne."

"Can't blame a guy for hoping," Thorne shrugs. "You look _too_ happy, and you're like, _never_ happy, so something's up with you." He sets the boxes on the counter and squints at Cinder. "Uh huh. You're probably coming down with a fever."

"Stop," Cinder bats away his hand that's coming to rest on her forehead. "I'm not _sick_. Do I really not smile a lot?"

"You never smile at two in the morning," Iko chimes in, and Cinder whirls around to find Iko coming up the aisles with her arms full of coffee creamers. "I don't think anyone would, though."

" _You_ do," Thorne points out, and then he winks at Iko. "That's why I like you, hot stuff."

Iko flips her braids over one shoulder and bats her eyes. "And here I thought you liked me for my sunny personality."

Cinder rolls her eyes. She does that a lot around Thorne as it is, but around Thorne _and_ Iko...

"Hey!" Iko spots something in Cinder's palm, which happens to be the written on dollar bill. "Hypocrite much, Cinder. You're the one who makes a big fuss about 'as soon as you get the money you put it into the register' and all that." Iko snatches it out of Cinder's hand amidst the start of a protest, gleefully about to wave it in front of Cinder's nose before she reads the writing on it.

Cinder winces, knowing what's about to come. "It's not what you think."

Iko reads the dollar bill and laughs. " _Cinder_! Look at you, ballin'. Who is it? Who's asking for your day off? Is it the super-cute delivery girl from that restaurant?" Iko gasps, and then she scowls. "Is it that guy from the laundromat? _Kinney_? It better not be Kinney, I'll kick his ass-"

"No, it's not either of them!" Cinder waves her hands. "There's nobody, it's just a dollar bill that someone gave me. Previously written on. Yeah. I mean, anybody can just give us spare bills...we take spare bills..."

Iko and Thorne share a look that clearly indicate they know she's lying. Iko can tell with the way Cinder stutters and rambles.

"Then-" Thorne plucks the bill from Iko's fingertips- "I guess you won't care if we prank call this number, right?"

Cinder's eyes widen for a split second, but then she looks at the cash register, nervously playing with the end of one of her gloves. "Nope."

Thorne whips out his phone and brandishes it dramatically. Iko instantly crowds around him, with Cinder closing her eyes and internally groaning, because she knows Thorne will do something utterly embarrassing.

She's right, of course.

"Make it dramatic," Iko suggests for the first text. "Ooh, make it really personal and gross!"

Cinder can already feel herself melting of the shame and humiliation, and even though she rarely blushes, she's colored bright red now.

"How about something like ' _hey asshole im pregnant. thanks a lo_ t'," Thorne suggests.

"Ooh, ooh! You should write ' _marry m_ e'," Iko adds.

"That's not funny," Thorne makes a face, but then he wolfishly grins. "I'm gonna send a dick pic."

"Don't!" Cinder bursts out before she can stop herself, cringing at the thought.

Thorne and Iko proudly turn to face Cinder's outburst.

"Why not?" Iko asks, innocently acting coy. "I mean, if you don't know who the person is, and this number could be discontinued or anything like that..."

"Ugh," Cinder groans, staring at the ceiling, and then she takes huge breath. "RememberwhenIsaidKaiwouldn'tcomeback?"

Thorne types in the phone number into his messaging app. "I'm going to text them 'hey sexy send nudes'."

Iko's eyes grow big. "Wait. Did you just say that _Kai_..."

"Yes," Cinder slaps a hand over her forehead. "It's his number."

" _Thorne_!" Iko screeches, seeing as Thorne is busy tapping away at his screen.

" _What_?" Thorne asks, pressing one last time. "There. I sent it."

Iko pales. "You mean that you sent the text asking for nudes."

"Yeah, no big deal, I'm sure that whoever Cinder's getting numbers from can take a joke," Thorne chuckles, making it clear that he had not heard Cinder and Iko's Kai exchange.

Cinder lets her head bang against the cash register, because she's dead anyway.

Iko slumps against the countertop, and Cinder's thinking that Iko faints for two seconds before she's back on her feet, smacking Thorne's shoulder with her palm.

" _Idiot_!" Iko's eyes bulge out and she looks crazy, swatting at Thorne at every given opportunity.

"Jesus!" Thorne jumps away from her hand. "What'd I do?"

Iko pauses in her abuse before she manages to grit out, "You just asked a world famous actor for nudes."

Thorne connects the dots slowly, glancing at his screen and then back to Iko. "Wait. Are you saying that the Kai guy came back and gave Cinder his phone number?"

Cinder sighs. "Yes."

"Wow," Thorne says. " _Why_? I mean, no offense Cinder, but if he's famous, he could probably get with the hottest chicks around."

Cinder shrugs, because that's exactly what she's thinking.

"Hey!" Iko cuts in, fists on her hips. "Cinder _is_ hot. And, she can totally date Kai Prince."

Thorne raises his hands up in surrender. "I didn't say she _wasn't_."

"Cinder can hear you," Cinder dryly inserts.

"Did he reply?" Iko asked, eyes wide. "I mean, Kai doesn't know that the person is Cinder, right? We can play this off as a wrong number."

"I'm on it," Thorne grabs his phone again. "Here. I just sent him a text that says, ' _by the way this is not Cinder. wrong number_ '. There you go, it's sent."

"THORNE!" Iko screams, grabbing two fistfuls of bright blue braids off her head.

" _What_? I said it was a wrong number!" Throne insists.

"Hello, you just _mentioned_ Cinder! He's going to know that Cinder was involved with it!" Iko starts pacing around nervously. "Ohmygod... you just _ruined_ any chances she ever had!"

"I like to think that I helped them along," Thorne says.

Cinder is already plotting the quickest way to leave the country without Adri's knowledge by that point, all thanks to Thorne.

Iko snatches Thorne's phone from his fingers. "Kai texted back!" she said, her eyes growing wide.

"Did he send nudes?" Thorne peeks over her shoulder.

"Ewww, _gross_ , shut _up_ , Cinder's not going to want to see them even if he _did_ send any!" Iko says, and then adds hastily, "Which he _didn't_ , by the way."

"Oh, good," Cinder replies sarcastically. "This way, when I'm exploited on fan sites, I can at least say that I was virtuous when Kai Prince read my explicit text messages. And I didn't even _send_ those text messages."

Thorne disappointedly reports from his phone with a humph, "He just sent a picture of himself smiling. A _selfie_. How _lame_. Someone tell this guy to step his game up."

Cinder's heart skips a beat, because that's majorly heart-eye-worthy.

"He _did_?" Iko catches sight of the picture. She sighs dreamily. "It's a _sign_ , Cinder. He's _perfect_." She takes the phone from Thorne and hands it over to Cinder, with a grin that's too large and conspiracing-like.

Cinder lets herself look at the phone, and she smiles, too, to see that Kai's picture includes his smiling face framed by his hair and hood, and it's clear that's he's photogenic, which Cinder absolutely hates, because the literal embodiment of perfection should not be interested in her.

"What should we reply with?" Iko goes off in a new direction. "This could make or break it!"

"Well, I could send him a picture of my-"

"Not _you_ , Thorne," Iko snaps, loosing her patience. " _Cinder_! Send him back a picture of you!"

"Send him a picture of your boobs!" Thorne yells, right before Iko tosses a magazine at his head.

Cinder still has Thorne's phone in her hand. "Maybe I should just tell him that it was a misunderstanding. That I shouldn't even give him my day off-"

"When _is_ your day off?!" Iko jumps up and down with excitement.

Cinder rolls her eyes. "Probably in thirty years- oh wait, that's just the date of my death."

" _Cinder_ ," Iko scolds, taking the phone, " _You're_ going to take next Saturday off. And, you're going to text him that."

Cinder poises one fingertip above the messaging icon. "Adri would never give me a day off."

"Then I'll cover your daytime shift!" Iko cries out. "You can't pass off the opportunity to go out with Kai _Prince_ , Cinder!"

Cinder listens to Iko, but she takes her words cautiously: there is the fact that Kai Prince is too famous for her, but then there's also the fact that he wouldn't give his phone number to a random stranger.

Cinder takes a deep breath. "I'll send him a text."

"Yay!" Iko claps her hands.

"Girls are evil," Thorne grumbles, rubbing at the side of his head where Iko hit him.

"Here goes," Cinder says, and then she sends the text telling Kai about her day off. "It's sent." She takes another deep breath. She's not used to the idea that somebody would take a romantic interest in her at all, let alone a _famous person_.

"Did he text back?" Iko crows a second later.

Thorne leans over Cinder's shoulder. "Nope. Nothing."

Cinder hands Thorne over his phone. "Do me a favor and _don't_ text back if he responds."

Thorne tucks the phone into his pocket with a grin. "No promises."

"Oh, forget that!" Iko grabs Cinder's hands in her own and spins her around. "You're going on a date, Cinder! With Kai Prince!"

"There's no confirmation on anything resembling a date," Cinder insists, but Iko is already whirling around Cinder in circles.

"When I'm the best woman at your wedding, you're never going to hear the end of it," Iko announces.

Thorne's phone buzzes and he has it out in a second, a grin on his face. "Aww, look, he's texting back how he can't wait to see you next Saturday- quick, Cinder, send him a picture of your boobs."

The next magazine Iko throws hits Thorne square in the jaw.


	3. Chapter 3

**Casual reminder that I ship Iko/Kinney like hell and if I knew more about Kinney's mannerisms/actions/features I would write an Iko/Kinney centric fic, lol. So yes, in this chapter, I've put some Kinney in here. I mean, I know it's canon that Iko spots Kinney and then thinks he's hotter than Kai but I really love the idea that they'd have a love/hate relationship too, 'cause Iko getting agitated with Kinney in Winter was adorable. This chapter's pretty short, actually, and doesn't deal with much Kaider as I'd like, even on their first official semi "date". Ah, well, whose first dates end up as anything besides awkward, huh? Thanks to the people that sent in such lovely reviews, it means a lot when people take th** **e time to comment on my fics and it means the world to me. This chapter's for you lovely people!**

* * *

Actually putting effort into picking clothes is too time consuming, and honestly, Cinder doesn't understand how Iko does it.

Iko rifles through Cinder's closet, making faces at every shirt and pair of pants she gets her hands on. At one of Cinder's rattiest gray shirts, Iko gives up and tosses herself onto the mattress Cinder sleeps on.

"You own nothing sexy," Iko laments to the ceiling. "How are we supposed to marry you off to a hot actor like this?"

Cinder, who's seated on a folding chair at the corner of her small room, is rolling her eyes. "That's not the goal."

"Then what is?" Iko sits up and picks out a simple black t-shirt with hardly any stains, and then she glances at all of Cinder's pants, which were all baggy, faded and ripped. "Maybe you should put on a pair of my pants."

"They're not going to fit me," Cinder responds.

"And these do?" Iko fits her hand into a rip on a pair of jeans. "These haven't fit you since- ever. This is why you need to stop shopping at Goodwill."

"I can't afford a department store," Cinder points out.

"Well I can't either," Iko says, "But if you would just coupon and find sales for knockoff designer clothes, your butt would look much cuter."

Cinder takes a deep breath. "I'll borrow a pair of your pants. But nothing fancy. I'm still going to wear my gloves. And my boots."

"Cinder!" Iko whines. "Your gloves are gross. And your boots are so dirty, there's dirt on there from like, three years ago."

Cinder folds her gloved hands in her lap. "I'm not going to go without them. I've had enough of people judging me for my prosthetics."

"Ooh, ooh, wait!" Iko scrambles off the bed and runs into the hallway, yelling over her shoulder, "I saved this magazine clipping, very important, it says..." her voice trails off as she goes out of earshot.

Cinder looks at the shirt Iko has laid out for her, and her stomach gets butterflies. It's still weird to wrap her head around, putting an effort to look nice for a complete stranger. There's no denying that Kai Prince is attractive, and Cinder is attracted to his physical features, but knowing nothing about a millionaire makes Cinder nervous. For all she knows, he could be a pervert. Or a weirdo. Or a closet pedophile or something...

"Look look look!" Iko comes back into the room, holding out a faded piece of paper with flourish. Cinder doesn't get up, so Iko walks across the room to shove it into Cinder's face. "In a 2013 interview for his movie _Rise of The Apocalypse_ , he was asked about the 'type' of women he liked, and he said that he liked all kinds of women, no matter their size, race, and he said, in a direct quote, 'I would date a disabled person, because they're still a person, not a disability'." Iko puts down the paper, looking at Cinder expectantly.

Cinder shrugs, because while it's a noble thing for a person to say, all she knows is that he's only been romantically linked to that beautiful Levana Lunar, who Cinder desperately tries not to think about and ends up thinking about all the time.

Iko gives a frustrated sigh. "How are you not falling in love already with this perfect human being? I've been in love with him for like years!"

Cinder fiddles with the end of one of her gloves. "It's easy for you to fall in love, you do it all the time."

" _Duh_ ," Iko tilts her head, and her bright blue braids fall over one shoulder in one fluid motion. "I think guys are hot. Girls are hot. You should appreciate hot people."

Cinder groans. "I don't like to only look at a person for their faces."

" _I_ do," Iko says, "But then again, I think _everyone's_ hot."

Cinder giggles, ready to use this to poke fun. "Even Kinney?"

Iko's eyes flash with fury at the thought of the laundromat owner that works on the same block as them. "Eww, _not_ Kinney. _Gross_. He'll never be hot. He's the only exception."

Cinder laughs, and then she looks back at the shirt on the bed. "You know I don't trust people, Iko, and I'm- I'm nervous."

Iko thinks this over. "We could ask Wolf to go with you," she mulls. "Like, low-key follow you around like a stalker or something."

"Because that's not suspicious at _all_ ," Cinder says, crossing her arms. "A six foot tall guy covered in scars and muscles."

Iko bolts upright. "But what if he hides? Behind fake plants and stuff like in movies."

"He'd still stick out," Cinder says. "Besides, maybe I just shouldn't go. I could just work today, and not go. Kai wouldn't care."

"Yes, he would," Iko stubbornly refuses to let Cinder even discuss the possibility of not attending. "He's been coming to see you for like, weeks, so he'll mind."

Cinder's mind still lingers on Levana Lunar as she slowly states, "This could just be some sort of bet. A joke."

"Why do you have to be such a downer, and always expect the worst out of people?" Iko scowls at Cinder. "Maybe your stepmother is going to always be a bitch, and so's your stepsister, but not everyone wants to screw you over. Although," she waggles her eyebrows, "Maybe there'll be some screwing involved with Kai."

"No," Cinder deadpans, "There will be nothing even resembling screwing. You spend too much time with Thorne."

Iko shrugs. "He and I have similar opinions."

"Wherein the fact that you both have dirty minds, and flirt with everything," Cinder chides, but Iko waves a hand at her.

"He flirts a lot more than me, okay, first off, second of all, we're not talking about me, we're talking about your outfit, so let's get back to that," Iko goes to grab Cinder's t-shirt, and then goes for Cinder's arm to pull her up from the chair.

Cinder lets herself be lead to Iko's room, but she's not particularly excited thinking about her first shift that's upcoming. Iko is already setting out every pair of pants she's ever owned on her own bed, and Cinder sits at the edge of it to let Iko dictate, because Iko likes to be helpful in everything she does. Cinder figures that if Iko wasn't always busy doing something, especially helping other people, she'd go crazy. Cinder's fond of Iko's habit, anyway.

"This pair is simple," Iko holds out a pair of jeans that are fashionably faded. "They'll go with your boots. Even if your boots are hideous."

Cinder cracks a smile. "Good to know."

"They're my smallest pair," Iko says. "I know your hips are tiny and all, but they might still be a little big. I'll find you a belt."

"Thanks," Cinder meekly replies, her hands running over the smooth jean material. "For helping me, I mean. I still don't know what we should talk about or anything."

"Well, you've come to the right place, because I happen to be a Kai Prince expert," Iko says, coming back with a belt and a grin. "He has no siblings, no mother, and his dad's dying of leukemia."

"...aren't you all sunshine and happiness," Cinder trails. "God, Iko, now I feel bad, why would you _tell_ me that?"

"So that way you avoid the whole awkward 'what do your parents do' conversation," Iko states primly. "Besides, you're an orphan with a controlling stepmother. I'm sure you have it worse."

"I don't have somebody I love _dying_!"

"True," Iko remarks, hand on her chin. "Best not mention the dad. Or his parents at all, actually. What you should do is talk about his hobbies. His interests. Stuff like that. He'll probably ask you something along those lines."

Cinder sighs, seeing how Iko is rocking back and forth on her heels like she has a juicy secret. "You know all his hobbies and interests, don't you."

"Of course I do!" Iko exclaims, but then she clamps a hand over her mouth. "I won't tell you them, though," she adds in a muffled voice, "So that way the conversation stays interesting."

"Thanks," Cinder replies (yes, sarcastically). She heads over to the outfit Iko's laid out, and she picks it up reluctantly. "We should get ready for work."

"Can I put some makeup on you?!" Iko gasps, clapping her hands.

"No."

* * *

It takes a while to avoid Iko's badgering, makeup-filled hands, but they eventually end up at the liquor store at the start of their shift. Cinder considers herself thankful that she only wears chapstick, at Iko's insistence, but otherwise her face is intact.

Iko sulks about it for a little bit while she stocks shelves, but she gets over it quickly.

Though the fact that Iko forgets about it is due to Wolf, who shows up to his shift with a black eye and bloody, sloppy stitches on one cheek.

Cinder hears a shrill scream from her post at the counter, and her first thought is that Iko is the one who's yelling like a five-year old girl, but then she catches sight of Thorne, who's come out of the storeroom just in time to anticipate Wolf's arrival.

Wolf sheepishly shrugs, with a small smile on the edge of his lips. "This isn't that bad."

"Did you get _murdered_?" Thorne screeches.

It's lucky that there's no customers at the moment, because Thorne is freaking out. Cinder stifles a laugh, but Iko lets her laughter ring out loud and clear.

" _Ohmygod_!" Iko cackles, smacking her own knee. "You should have seen your face, Thorne!"

Thorne backs up against the stocked shelves, tipping over a stack of cake mix. He tries to play it off, though, as nothing. "Whatever," he says, trying to be flippant, but then he slips and his elbow bangs on the now-messy shelf.

Wolf touches his cheek, and looks surprised when his fingertips come back stained with blood. "Huh."

Iko raises her eyebrows. "Did you go to the hospital? Did you get _shot_?"

Wolf uncomfortably glances over his shoulder to see that nobody's entered. "No, I wasn't shot."

Cinder leans forward on the cash register. "Maybe Wolf should work on unpacking boxes. Or manning security. Whatever- doesn't scare people away."

"Yeah. Go do that," Iko says, waving her hands, "Because when Kai comes, the last thing we need is for him to assume that our establishment is crime-ridden."

"It is, actually," Thorne pipes up. Iko glares at Thorne. He grins, rather cockily.

Wolf goes without an argument, hand over his bleeding cheek, but otherwise making no motion to suggest that he's been wounded.

"We have a first-aid kit in the back," Cinder tells Wolf as he's leaving, but he doesn't even respond to acknowledge that he'd heard her at all (nor did he give any indication that he'd put on a band-aid or anything at least).

"When's your boyfriend gettin' here, Cinder?" Thorne waggles his eyebrows.

Cinder rolls her eyes. "He's not my..."

"He's going to come here whenever he comes," Iko chimes in, with an obnoxious air. "Go clean something, Thorne."

"Rude," Thorne declares, and he doesn't even move anyway. Iko turns to Cinder then with a bright smile.

"We need to discuss conversation starters. Like, what's the first thing you're gonna say to Kai?" she asks. Cinder makes a face.

"I should probably say hi, first of all," Cinder points out.

" _After_ the introductions and _after_ he says all that 'nice to see you' stuff," Iko says. "Trust me. I know how guys work. He's probably going to say something like 'you look nice'. But it doesn't always mean that he _means_ it, you get me? It's polite nowadays."

Thorne grows a perplexed expression. "Guys say that crap?" he complains. "If _I_ think a girl doesn't look nice, I'd probably tell her to fix her hair or fix whatever shit makes her look like a mess."

"I can't believe a catch like you is still single," Cinder replies, _very_ sarcastically, eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"I know, right?" Thorne agrees.

"But knowing Kai, he'll mean it." Dreamily, Iko gives out a sigh. "Cinder, I feel like I could convulse on the spot if I get to even _meet_ him."

"Then maybe _you_ should try to date him." Cinder tugs at the gloves on her hands as she speaks, unwilling to look anybody in the eye.

"Don't be silly, that's what you're here for. I mean, destiny's going to point me in the direction of my soulmate soon. Watch," Iko gives a very Disney-Princess-esque twirl by the counter. "Someday my own Prince Charming is going to walk through that front door."

The front door clangs open with a harsh bang, and the three whirl around to face Liam Kinney, the laundromat owner.

"Here comes your Prince Charming," Thorne snickers.

Iko groans, looking at the ceiling. " _Why_?"

"Can we help you, Kinney?" Cinder asks, in as calm a voice as she can, even though she's nervous herself (not over Kinney, but over the looming fact that Kai Prince is supposed to meet her). (Also yes she's still thinking about it).

Kinney scowls. Directly at Iko. "I don't suppose _you_ had anything to do with all of my dryers simultaneously bursting with bubbles."

Thorne snickers again.

Iko crosses her arms, eyes flashing fire. Normally, Iko gets along with everybody. But not with Liam Kinney. If Liam Kinney is involved, Iko seeks a fight. Every. Time.

"I had nothing to do with your stupid dryers and your dumb bubbles," Iko replies, icily, her voice growing louder. "Maybe it's because you're too _idiotic_ to even notice when your dryers break!"

"Or _maybe_ ," Kinney's voice grows to match Iko's tone, " _Maybe_ you went in and tampered with them! My back door lock is completely broken, and all of my security cameras are _gone_..."

" _Maybe_ you're too FUCKING FULL OF YOURSELF TO EVEN PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT-"

"Okay," Cinder cuts in, reaching for a ranting Iko, slamming one greasy gloved hand over her mouth, even as Iko struggles. "I'm sorry, Kinney, but I think you should go."

Wolf chooses that exact moment to come into their vicinity, holding a bunch of Kinney's security cameras. "Are these included in inventory? There was nothing on the list about cameras."

"God _damnit_ , Wolf," Thorne groans, slapping his own palm against his forehead. "I hid those for a reason!"

Wolf raises one skeptical eyebrow. "Yeah, you hid them behind the boxes I was supposed to throw out."

Iko yanks away Cinder's glove, ready to gloat to Kinney no doubt, before Kai walks into the door.

Cinder recognizes the dark hoodie and the sunglasses on his face, and then she tries to quickly look away like she hasn't noticed him and that she's instead looking at Iko and Kinney's newfound discussion.

"Accusing _me_ , without any _proof_ -" Iko rants with exaggerated hand gestures, just as Kinney's voice overlaps hers.

"You act as if previous discrepancies with my appliances had _nothing_ to do with you..."

"That was _one time_ , and your washer was going to break anyway-"

Cinder tries to look anywhere besides Kai's incoming figure, acting like she's very busy with the cash register.

"Wait a second," Thorne notices Kai first, rubbing his chin suspiciously. "Cinder, I think that guy is..."

"KAI PRINCE!" comes an overexcited yell that indicates Iko has caught on.

Kai jumps, the sunglasses he's wearing sliding on his nose.

Cinder facepalms and blushes simultaneously.

"Hi," Kai says, and then he takes off his sunglasses all at once, surveying the scene with interest. Wolf was holding too many cameras, Thorne was lazily lounging against the counter, and Iko had Kinney's arm in her clutch. As for Cinder, she was currently shrinking back and hoping that he wouldn't notice her. Of course, he did. Kai looked right over at Cinder with a wide smile.

"It's-it's..." Iko is speechless. Even Kinney looks mildly surprised. Wolf and Thorne both look to see Cinder's reaction.

"Hey," Cinder says. And then she makes it worse by awkwardly waving. _God, could she be more pathetic?_

Kai looks over at her coworkers (plus Kinney). "You're not busy, right?"

"She's _definitely_ not busy!" Iko cuts in before Cinder can respond. "Her shift just ended, so you know, feel free to go wherever. Do whatever. Maybe you two could-"

"Thank you, Iko," Cinder interjects, giving her friend a grimace disguised as a thin smile.

"Well, would you look at that," Thorne marvels. "An actual, living, breathing celebrity in my midst. I can't say you're the first, though, my man."

Kai raises his eyebrows. "Huh. Who was the first?"

"It was this cannibal from the eleven o'clock news, he was in the solitary confinement ward, too-"

"Maybe we should leave!" Cinder bursts out before Thorne can continue the cannibal story.

"Oh. Yeah." Kai puts his sunglasses back on and then looks at Cinder. "Shall we?"

Iko gives a dreamy sigh. _Loudly_.

Cinder comes around from behind the counter, feeling _very_ self-conscious about the way Iko's jeans fit, or the state of her gloves- even if she'd picked the less crappy-looking pair.

Before they can make it through the front door, Wolf gets closer to Kai and blocks his way in all his tall, muscly, scary glory.

"Have you ever considered running for office?" he asks, like it's a trick question.

"Let's go, wow, look at the time," Cinder gives Wolf's broad chest a shove so that he could move, and Kai trails her with a smile the whole time. Like the freak show he hadn't experienced wasn't completely mortifying to her.

"Well," Kai turns to Cinder once they're on the sidewalk, giving her a grin. "That was an interesting bunch of coworkers you have."

Cinder groans. "Please don't even talk about them. I'm still considering whether or not I should quit on account of what just happened."

Kai laughs. "It's not that they're bad people. I'll admit, I'm usually uncomfortable around people that think...well. I don't know how to word it without sounding like an asshole."

"Meaning?" Cinder lets Kai take the lead by walking across the street.

"I guess...people that seem starstruck? I'm not really comfortable with people that want to talk about my fame," Kai admits. "In all honesty, I don't like to think of myself as famous."

They came to a stop in front of Rieux Tavern, the bar and restaurant besides the mini-mart. Cinder had never gone to eat there before, and even at Iko's insistence that it was the man's job to pay for the first date, Cinder had brought along several of her hard-owned dollars because she hated feeling indebted to anybody. She'd already had enough of that with Adri.

Kai holds the door open for her. And he won't stop smiling. Cinder mutters a quick thank you as she ducks inside, seeing the bar occupied with a football match, and several tables littered around, mostly empty. Kai chooses one towards the back, where no one is sitting, and Cinder welcomes that gratefully.

Kai's back is to the crowd at the bar, probably in an effort to stay hidden, and Cinder looks toward an incoming waitress and past her that cute delivery girl Iko always tries to flirt with.

"Hello, my name is Émilie and I will be your server today," the waitress says, pleasantly. "What may I get the both of you?"

Cinder studies the menu, but doesn't make an impromptu choice. She knows she'll get something cheap, because she is poor after all, and she can't afford to give herself luxuries like going out.

"I'll have a burger," Kai says. "With a side of fries and a coke, please."

Cinder's heart skips a beat. He's polite and friendly and gives smiles like it's nothing. He's perfect. She shakes away the thoughts and then she studies the menu, willing herself to order anything that looks good.

"Burger, side of fries and a coke, what about you?" Émilie gives Cinder an inquisitive look.

"I'll just have a turkey sandwich," Cinder says, "With a water, thank you."

"I'll be right back with your orders," Émilie smiles at the two of them and leaves.

Once they're alone, Cinder struggles to keep eye contact with Kai (or at least, eye contact with his sunglasses) and it's making her very nervous. She knows nothing about bothering to keep a conversation, she's already bad at making friends because she's only ever had one. Except maybe for the new addition of both Thorne and Wolf, but they were not her best friends the way Iko is.

"So," Kai says. Cinder wishes that she could see his eyes when he talks, but instead she toys with the menu and looks down at that. (he's still smiling, too. That's unnerving). "I guess that we don't know that much about each other."

"Yeah," Cinder replies, and she struggles to come up with a sentence starter, something she'd never bothered to learn how to do. "We don't."

"Do you have any hobbies?" Kai asks, and he looks so interested, Cinder's heart keeps jumping with anxiety.

"Not really," she admits, which is actually true. "But, um, I do like to fix things. Electronics, mostly. I'm pretty good at that." That much was true- Cinder had a knack for fixing broken objects.

"That's cool," Kai responds, and he genuinely sounds like he means. "Are you, like, an engineering major or something?"

"Oh, no, I don't go to college," Cinder says, and then she stares at the table fixedly. "No time."

"I get that," Kai nods. "I've been trying to get an online degree, and I'm with you on having no time. I've been doing the work for three years and I'm barely getting past my pre-requisites."

Cinder tries to give a smile, but it falls flat. The topic of college, and money, with somebody who wouldn't have trouble with either of them is very awkward. Not to mention weird.

"But that's boring," Kai looks embarrassed. And then Cinder blushes to notice that he's blushing, too. He rubs the back of his neck. "Sorry. I'm pretty bad at this."

"At what?" Cinder asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Just...I don't know. I haven't been on an actual date in who knows how long..."

Cinder tries not to let herself freak out over his sentence. "Oh. I didn't realize this _was_ an actual date."

If it's possible, Kai grows even redder. "I know you don't know much about me, and I don't know much about you...but I want to. If that didn't come out as creepy. Umm, well, maybe it's pushing it to assume that you'll want to hang out again, but there's an award show I have to go to in a few weeks. Maybe you'd like to come with me."

Cinder's past the point of blushing. She's overheating. "Uh- well, I'd have to think about it."

"I understand," Kai replies. "Yeah. I guess I can't just expect you to, um, be interested in me right off. I'm used to that." Alarmed, he looks up at Cinder. "Not to sound like I'm bragging, you know, but I'm-"

"Kai Prince," Cinder finishes for him, and she can't help it, her mouth quirks up into the tiniest of smiles.

"It does make me sound conceited," Kai ruefully laughs.

Cinder shakes her head, and this time, there's a full smile on her face. She repeats her earlier statement. "I'll think about it. The award show."


	4. Chapter 4

**I've had this chapter in works since February. I was literally writing a Valentine's day themed chapter (which included Wolf bashing commercialized capitalist holidays, Thorne making stuffed animals do inappropriate things, and also had Iko and Thorne argue over who could ask out Scarlet) Then I realized that it didn't fit my time frame, and I really didn't want to mix around my endgame, so here's this. Filler-ish, some slight Kaider, and in regards to the guest who asked if bi!Iko is a thing, why yes, she's bi, because that's my fond headcanon :) I've also been wanting to incorporate Winter and Jacin somehow...my boyfriend bought me Stars Above for Valentine's day and I was glued to "The Princess and the Guard", honestly. Anyway so here's this chapter, which is sorta shitty, I got writer's block, I've had to write so many essays because I'm taking two English classes but I did that to myself...I've also been dedicating my time to other sites like YouTube, and Tumblr, and I have a bunch of scholarships I've been applying for, too. Besides my boring life, thanks to the people that left reviews and want me to update, if it wasn't for you all this would follow the same fate of my ROTBTD stories and be unfinished, but I plan to keep at this one, but at the same time, I have soooo many stories I started with TLC at this point, and a lot of them are WinterxJacin actually lol also Iko/Kinney someone shoot me**

* * *

Thorne waltzes past the cash register, whistling nonchalantly, hands stuck in his pockets.

Naturally, Cinder assumes he's done something wrong.

"What did you do this time?" Cinder asks, eyes glued to the bills she's counting in her hand.

"Me? _Do_ something? What a ludicrous idea. I haven't done anything wrong in my _life_."

"How about when you went to jail?"

"...grand theft is hardly _wrong_."

" _Thorne_."

"Alright, alright, fine- I _sorta_ followed Wolf home last night when he left. Y'know, before the sun went down?" Thorne says, raising both of his hands in surrender.

Cinder groans. "You know he probably saw you."

"I was very clandestine!" Thorne protests.

"Clandestine enough for a man who made it his life goal to stalk political candidates?"

"...point taken. Do you want to know what he does when he's not at work or not?" Thorne asks.

"That's his business," Cinder replies.

"But you have to at least be _curious_ ," Thorne presses.

"Not enough," Cinder says.

"I'm curious!" Iko pops into the conversation, beaming widely and holding a stack of magazines. "What, exactly, am I curious about? Does it involve Kai?"

"Better," Thorne says, "It involves _Wolf_."

Iko makes a face. "He's not as cute as Kai."

Cinder aggressively starts counting bunches of quarters.

"Haven't you wondered why he always shows up to work with cuts, bruises, bloody face, the works?" Thorne's voice is positively gloating in an _I-know-something-you-don't_ way.

"Yes!" Iko gasps, and then she lowers her voice. "To be honest, I hope he's not in an abusive household. That would be _horrible_."

"He's not, relax," Thorne waves a hand, "But he _is_ in..." here, he pauses for dramatic effect-"... _boxing_."

"Boxing?" Cinder echoes.

"Boxing!" Thorne exclaims.

"Boxing!?" Iko repeats, aghast.

"Boxing!" Thorne tosses his arms above his head, comically and dumbly.

"He _willingly_ lets people beat him up?" Iko muses over the new information. "That's just... _weird_."

"Maybe there's a lot of money in that," Cinder says, putting her coins back into the register.

"You're right," Thorne says, and his eyes positively light up. "Think we can get him to cut us in?"

"Isn't unorganized fighting illegal?" Iko wonders aloud.

"Why would it be? It's fighting, and everybody's adults," Thorne says, waving around one hand.

Iko shrugs. "I watched that movie _Beverly Hills Chihuahua_ and the dog fighting was illegal."

"Why the hell would you watch _Beverly Hills Chihuahua_?" Thorne raises one eyebrow.

"...don't judge me, I _had_ to," Iko snaps.

"You _had_ to watch _Beverly Hills Chihuahua_?" Cinder quirks one of her eyebrows, too.

"...stop _judging_ me!"

" _Anyway_ ," Thorne trails, "I feel like we should ask Wolf if we can tag along. Become a support team."

"Become a support team in illegal fighting?" Iko exclaims. "Do you _want_ to get arrested again?"

"Hmm, good point, I'd rather like to stay away from jail, thank you," Thorne says, after a pause to consider the pros and cons.

The door to the mini-mart opens, and Cinder jumps, looking at the door frantically, but it's only a teenage girl walking through the aisles.

Iko catches Cinder's nervousness, and she gives a knowing smirk.

" _Cinder_ ," she says, sneakily, leaning against the cash register. "You look jumpy today."

"I'm not jumpy," Cinder says, stubbornly, and then she tugs at the gloves that cover her hands.

"You _look_ jumpy." Iko grins.

"I'm _not_ ," Cinder stresses. "I'm perfectly calm and I'm not jumpy."

"Did _Kai_ ask you anything?" Iko asks, that smirk still there. "Ever since your _date_ -"

" _Not_ a _date_..."

"You've been acting really weird. This past week." Iko crosses her arms. "I bet Kai kissed you and you've been holding out on me. Not telling me the gritty details, are you?" She gasps. "Did he kiss your _hand_? I've seen that in movies. That seems romantic."

"No," Cinder deadpans, "I'm wearing gloves. I wouldn't let him kiss my hand anyway."

"He didn't try to put any moves on you?" Iko sounds disappointed.

"No."

" _Lame_ ," Thorne interjects from where he'd been ignoring them before, looking at Cinder's stack of outdated magazines. "If a guy doesn't try to get a kiss from the first date, then he's got no game."

"He's got more game than _you_ ," Iko challenges. "You haven't been on a date."

"Yeah, but I've touched base more than he has, I'll bet," Thorne says, giving a smug grin.

"Touched _base_? Don't be crude," Iko swats at Thorne's shoulder.

"I'll have you know I can get a date anytime I want one, thank you very much," Thorne says. "There's this girl at the computer store that's giving me the _eye_."

"The _eye_?" Cinder gives Thorne a confused look. "You mean the _eye_ where she's watching you to make sure you don't steal anything?"

"Of course not!" Thorne snaps, looking mildly annoyed, but hardly so at the same time. "She wants this. I can tell."

"She wants a deadbeat?" Cinder shoots back, a small smile on her lips.

"Don't be getting jealous, Cinder," Thorne gloats. "I know you're still hung up over me..."

"Oh, yes, I'll be _very_ jealous of her," Cinder says sarcastically, with an eye roll added for good measure. "I don't know what I'll do without you."

"What were you doing at the computer store?" Iko demands, hands on her hips.

"Got a virus on my laptop," Thorne says. "Apparently, she's a software expert or something. I don't know. She's fixing it though."

"Is she pretty?" Iko asks, getting interested.

"Yeah, sure, of course she's _pretty_ ," Thorne says, and he leans against the cashier counter next to Iko. "But the point is, she would date me. In a heartbeat. I'm sure about that."

"You're _sure_ about that," Iko mimics with a smile.

"Yes, I am!"

"I _still_ think you wouldn't be as suave as Kai," Iko claims.

"Oh, yeah? Want to make a bet? _I_ bet that I can kiss computer store girl faster than Kai kisses Cinder." Thorne is facing off Iko now, a smirk that matches hers on his lips.

"I'm right here, dumbass," Cinder rolls her eyes, "And I'm not going to be part of your stupid bet because I'm _not_ going to kiss Kai."

" _What_? Why _not_?" Iko screeches, eyes wide.

Cinder's face heats up (involuntarily. She tries not to _blush_ on top of everything). "I dunno, it's just...very weird. I haven't been kissed, and he's not going to kiss me."

"He could!" Iko cries out, getting so excited that the braids she'd been twirling idly around her fingers start to get tangled in each other. "I'm sure he wants to, Cinder. If he didn't, he wouldn't have been coming here at all. I mean, _think_ about it. What would his ulterior motive be? He has to _want_ to kiss you."

"No he doesn't," Cinder refutes.

"What else is he trying to do if he's dating you?" Thorne inserts himself into the kiss debate. "If a guy dates you, he wants something in return. And that something has to be your...womanly charms."

"Oh, yeah, my _womanly charms_ ," Cinder drawls (sarcastically. _very_ sarcastically). "I wonder what he finds more enticing- my unbrushed hair or the grease on my face."

"C'mon, Cinder, don't you want to make things _exciting_?" Iko gives a weird little jump/hop of excitement. "This could be fun! And, it would speed up your first kiss. Think about it."

Cinder's not thinking about it. At least she won't admit it. Instead, she side-eyes Thorne. "He's going to cheat."

"We'll make sure he doesn't!" Iko says. "I mean, he can't kiss computer store girl at the computer store. We'll just have to chaperone their dates."

"Hold on," Thorne frowns, "How is there going to be any action if all we would do is double date?"

Iko perkily gives an array of claps. "Double _dating_!" she gushes. "Ohmygod, I don't know why I didn't think about that! You and Kai," she turns to Cinder, "Can go on a date with Thorne and computer store girl!" She looks at Thorne now. "What's her name?"

Thorne blinks. Then pauses. "Huh. I actually don't know."

"Kai can't do that," Cinder raises her argument. "He's too well-known. And what if computer store girl is a fan? This isn't going to work. And, there's the fact that I _refuse to participate_."

Iko pouts. "Please, Cinder? I mean, it's not turning into _She's All That_. You and Kai like each other, and it's only a matter of time when you guys would kiss. There's nothing wrong with a meaningless bet in my boring life."

"Cinder's just scared," Thorne declares, crossing his arms. "Yup. She knows she'll lose."

Cinder's eyes narrow. "I'm not _scared_."

"Then prove it and kiss Kai Prince," Thorne grins.

"I'm _not_ going to do that," Cinder raises her voice.

" _Ahem_." The group whirls around to face the teenage girl from earlier, who's holding a pack of gum and looking annoyed. Wordlessly, Iko and Thorne step aside to let Cinder check out the girl's product.

Once the teenager's gone, though, it's back to the discussion that makes Cinder roll her eyes. _Again_.

"I'm not going to agree on the whole chaperone thing," Thorne says, "But I'll let you guys meet her, and then you'll understand that she's head over heels. It'll be perfect."

" _Perfect_?" Iko gives a giggle. "You don't even know her _name_."

"I'll prove it!" Thorne pointedly avoids the last part of the sentence. "I'm going to pick up my laptop and then I'm going to ask her out on an actual date, where I will kiss her. And learn her name. Not necessarily in that order."

"Where will this actual date _be_?" Iko asks with a toss of her her head.

"We're going to have us a little get-together in your apartment, Iko," Thorne says, and then he turns to Cinder. "When's the next day this place closes?"

"The day Adri dies," Cinder blandly responds.

"Aww, come on, Cinder, there's got to be one day she won't be open."

Cinder shrugs. "Christmas?"

"Adri won't close," Iko says, slowly. "And our apartment is small, Thorne. We can't have a get-together."

"It'll just be us. You two don't have any friends, and shockingly, all my friends are still in jail, so we can invite Wolf! He's practically our friend." Thorne leans against the cash register. "I mean, he's going to be the only other person besides us, but it'll make it seem casual and not like a date. Otherwise Iko would be the fifth wheel."

"But then I'll have to talk to Wolf the entire time," Iko complains, but then her eyes light up. "What if I invite Scarlet?"

Thorne looks interested at that suggestion. "Is she hot?"

"You forget that we're _not_ doing this bet thing," Cinder inserts with a scowl.

" _Cinder_ ," Iko whines, "We never have any fun. Let me have this."

"This _wouldn't_ be fun."

Thorne snaps his fingers. "I've got it."

"Got what?" Iko asks. "Is it chlamydia?"

"Ha ha, you're very funny...no, leave the 'closing' problem to me," Thorne says smugly. "I can take care of it."

Cinder knows he's going to do something morally wrong, so she doesn't even listen to what he's about to say next.

* * *

Iko's perched in the tiny bathroom, practically sitting on the counter by the sink as she slathers on a deep red lipstick. Cinder's leaning in the doorway, very upset.

"I can't _believe_ you invited him." She's glowering, her knuckles growing white by the way she's gripping onto her forearms.

"He sounded like he really wanted to come. Well, through text," Iko waves one hand. "Besides, he said he's going to cut his filming early so he can hang out with you! I think that's sweet."

Cinder still refuses to even sound mildly happy. "I'm not going to kiss him, so get that through your head."

"Oh, Cinder," Iko coos, trying to speak in an accent as she continues, "I think the lady doth protest too much."

Cinder doesn't even blink. "Please don't ever try to speak like Shakespeare again."

Iko thins her lips into a thoughtful purse. "Is that Shakespeare?"

"I don't know," Cinder rolls her eyes, "I don't really care."

"Thorne came through, okay?" Iko changes the subject, running a finger by the corner of her mouth. "The mini-mart is closed and Scarlet says she'll stop by. Essentially, I'm living a dream."

Cinder groans. "Please don't try to flirt with Scarlet all night long."

"Why not?" Iko asks. "I mean, I'm pretty sure she's single." Suddenly, she gasps. "Do you think she's dating that _waitress_ from the tavern? I always see them talking."

"I don't know," Cinder repeats. She runs her hands down the gloves she wears. She feels out of place, since Iko's insisted that she dress semi-nice. Her head thunks against the doorframe.

Iko's moved onto her mascara, carefully applying it to her lashes. "Ugh, what if she's straight? Do you think she's straight? I hope she's not straight."

"If she is," Cinder says, "Then at least you guys can be friends."

"Ehhhh," Iko trails off, capping her mascara wand. "I'm not really looking for _more_ friends."

"Because you have _so_ many," Cinder quips.

"Oh, shut up," Iko responds, sourly, stashing her makeup into the drawer of the sink counter. Then, she's turned to Cinder with a mega-watt smile. "So," she says, overly excited, "When are you going to tell Kai that you'll go to his awards show with him?"

"Never," Cinder replies, "Because I'm not going."

"What do you mean, you're not _going_?!" Iko exclaims. "Cinder, need I remind you that he's the _most famous person on this side of the planet_?!"

"He's actually not," Cinder refutes. "Besides, I'd have nothing to wear. And, I wouldn't want to go."

"You wouldn't want to go to a fancy awards show on the arm of Kai _Prince_?" Iko looks like she's about to have a heart attack at Cinder's refusal.

Cinder sighs. "Iko, I don't know him. He doesn't even know me, and I'm not-" she gestures to herself with distaste. "I'm not pretty enough for something like that. I have no clothes or anything that would look good at an awards show. Besides, it's weird."

"Of course you're pretty enough!" Iko scolds. "Don't say you're not. I think Kai really likes you, and I think you might like him back."

Cinder doesn't respond, but she knows Iko is right. About maybe liking Kai, anyway, but she's not sure about the rest.

Iko looks over at Cinder and gazes up and down. "Eh," she shrugs, "You could look worse."

"Thanks," Cinder says (sarcastically, as always). "Is it too late for me to hide away, forever?"

Iko beams. "Yes, it is." She takes Cinder's arm in her own, walking with her towards the living room. "Think about, an hour from now, we're going to have our very own and very first party."

"It's not a party," Cinder says, "Because you're going to promise not to do anything stupid like drinking, right?"

"I won't do anything stupid like drinking," Iko promises.

An hour later, she's stupidly drinking, and Cinder blames Carswell Thorne for supplying the booze.

Cinder also feels sorry for Carswell Thorne's date, who happens to be named Crescent Moon, but she goes by Cress, because she's got a blush on her face constantly as she stands by Thorne and tries to laugh at his drunken jokes. (and, he has really, really bad drunk jokes).

"Whatd'ya call a fish with two knees?" Thorne slurs, his arm around Cress as he sways, practically having her support his weight.

Iko, who's standing next to Thorne and Cress, widens her eyes in shock. "Fish have _knees_?"

"A two-knee fish!" Thorne exclaims. "Get it? Like tuna fish?"

Cress forces out a laugh, but it's very strained. Iko laughs like it's the funniest thing she's ever heard.

"Tuna fish!" Iko squeals, the beer in her hand sloshing as she writhes in mirth.

Cinder is massaging her temples and trying not to focus on the fact that Kai is currently in her tiny kitchen, getting them both non-alcoholic drinks, with that winning smile directed at her at all times.

"Hey," Kai returns- speak of the devil- and hands her a cup of juice, which she assumes must be for Thorne's mixed drinks, not that Thorne'd notice in his intoxicated state. "Pineapple okay?"

"Sure," Cinder says, gratefully, "Thanks." While she's never had an affinity for pineapple, it beat tap water all the same.

Kai looks over at Thorne, Cress, and Iko, who are currently talking very loudly (Thorne and Iko are. Cress looks like she's trapped). Then he gives Cinder that award-winning smile of his. Again. "Do you want to go somewhere more private?" he asks.

Cinder can't help it, she laughs, nervously, fiddling with her gloves like she always does. "Umm-"

"That came out wrong," Kai starts, ducking his head and laughing, too, making his hair fall into his eyes in a way that's boyishly cute. "I just meant somewhere quieter. Maybe with more light. And, without drunks."

Cinder looks over at Iko, and she knows she shouldn't leave Iko alone if she's drunk, but at the same time, Cinder _would_ like to be free from the blaring, tacky techno music Thorne'd managed to hook to an ancient booming speaker.

"I'll keep my hands to myself. Scout's honor. Well, actually, I was never a Boy Scout, but I do have some integrity." Kai beams, and locks his hands behind his back.

Cinder laughs, and _damnit_ , Kai makes it even easier to like him- maybe Iko was right about him being a perfect human being- but Cinder's not so willing to let her carefully constructed walls come down either, even if Kai Prince is attractive, smart, playful, and very out of her league.

"Not a Boy Scout, huh?" Cinder beckons for him to follow her to the doors that lead to what could almost be considered a terrace.

"Yeah, I didn't really have time. When your dad's a millionaire, shockingly, you can't do anything without your nannies supervising."

"A millionaire, huh?" Cinder can't help that another smile starts.

"Not bragging," Kai says quickly. "Just stating a fact."

"Oh, I'm sure you are." The air outside is calm, and hardly cold; it can't be under seventy degrees, yet Cinder has goosebumps. She's- potentially- alone with Kai Prince, considering nobody else has spilled outside. (also, she hadn't seen Wolf or Scarlet in the past hour, which was sketchy).

Kai takes a deep breath of the night air, and then he's gazing at the stars, just smiling. "This is nice," he says. "I haven't had a night to myself in such a long time. I like this." He looks over at Cinder, and he's smirking. "I have some stellar company, too."

Cinder averts her gaze and takes a long sip of pineapple juice, wishing she didn't have to come back up for air. She makes a noise like _hmfpgh_ and then she oh-so-attractively almost chokes, which was great.

Kai doesn't notice, though, he's looking at the stars again. "When I was little my dad taught me all about the constellations," he says. "You know, he was an astronomer before he became a politician."

"Your dad's a politician?" Cinder asks, trying to make small talk, and also trying to soothe her burning throat, cursing the pineapple juice.

"He used to be." Kai runs his hand over the rusty metal of the terrace balcony. "I mean, before everything...now all he has is his business, and I don't think he'll go back to astronomy."

"Before what?" Cinder asks, genuinely curious.

"Before the cancer," Kai explains, almost sheepishly. "Sorry. I forgot- I'm used to people knowing."

Cinder's eyes grow wide. _Shit._ Absently, she thinks back to when Iko had told her not to mention Kai's dad, which is exactly what Cinder _did_.

"I'm sorry," Cinder says, truthfully, embarrassed. "I didn't meant to pry. I'm really out of things."

"It's fine," Kai says. "I should have explained, but, it's okay. My dad's doing the best he can, and I'm hopeful. I'm really hopeful."

Cinder closes her mouth before she can say something else that's dumb. Then, she takes another drink of juice, just to focus on anything other than her humiliation. _Christ_ , Cinder thinks, _I'm worse at talking than Thorne is._

"What about your parents?" Kai asks, turning to look at Cinder with a reluctant smile, because he's thinking of his _terminally ill father_ , something that Cinder is still (internally) wincing about. "If that's not too invasive."

"Oh, no," Cinder says, thinking that nothing could be more invasive than her own comment, because try as she might, she's pretty sure she'll be mortified forever. "I'm adopted. My adoptive mother, she's-" (a _bitch_ ), "-she's the owner of the mini mart. That I work at."

"That's pretty cool," Kai says, and he sounds intrigued. "So I guess- _both_ of our parents have businesses."

"In a way," Cinder replies, and then she gulps down the rest of her pineapple juice. She'd never been drawn to liquor, but she was certainly wishing she had some kind of buzz to get rid of her anxiety. Just _thinking_ about Adri was giving her a headache.

Kai notices Cinder's now-empty cup. "Do you want me to get you some more juice?" he asks, and Cinder wishes that he wasn't so doting because she feels inadequate in comparison.

"You know, it's fine, I can just get some mysel-"

A loud crash cuts off the end to Cinder's sentence, the noise of shattering glass ending all conversation.

" _FUCK_!" a voice roars from the inside, a voice that Cinder recognizes as being Iko. _Oh, God_.

"What happened?" Kai looks concerned, bless his soul, but Cinder already _knows_ what's happened.

"Um, it's just Iko," Cinder makes the excuse and rushes inside to see Iko furiously sweeping, the mirror that had once hung in the foyer on the floor in pieces. Thorne was also on the floor, not in pieces, but laughing about something. Cress is standing over him, with a grimace and red cheeks.

"Cinder!" Thorne sees her, chuckling. "You won't believe what just happened. We were playing truth or dare-"

"Why were you playing truth or dare?" Cinder asks, confused.

"-we dared Iko to make out with her reflection but she knocked over the mirror-" Thorne continues, not pausing to answer Cinder.

" _Why_ would you agree to make out with your reflection?" Cinder crosses her arms. Kai comes into the living room and sees the mess, and his own eyes grow wide.

Iko is wobbly in her movements, and Cinder suspects she's truly and actually drunk. "B'cause I'm _hot_ , Cinder."

Kai goes to help Iko clean up the mess, with Cinder and Cress following suit, because Thorne just lays there, laughing and shaking.

When the spectacle is over, Iko is asleep, right next to Thorne, who's also snoring.

"Sorry," Cinder says, and then she offers Cress a ride, which Cress shakes her head at.

"It's okay," Cress says, failing to look unaffected by Thorne's drunk behavior. "I'm going to take an Uber."

"I could drop you off, actually," Kai pipes up, his jacket over his shoulders. "I'm leaving, too."

Just then, Wolf and Scarlet come out from the kitchen. Cinder's met Scarlet now, she's a feisty redheaded girl who speaks with a French accent and also threatened to kill Thorne in a span of two minutes- but she's okay.

"Is everything okay?" Scarlet asks, looking confused, and then back at the clock. "It's not even ten yet." In her hands, inexplicably, is a cake. It's already been cut into, and Wolf's got crumbs around his mouth, which explains the missing part.

"It's late," Cress mumbles as an excuse, averting her gaze.

"I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your kitchen," Scarlet then directs her statement to Cinder.

"Um- It's fine?" Cinder says, uncertainly, raising the end of the sentence like it was a question.

Scarlet and Kai then strike up a conversation about baking, with the both of them exchanging culinary tips. Cress ends up going with the Uber, though the use of any of the party's vehicles are presented, probably because of Thorne's drunkard behavior, which makes Cinder "accidentally" step on his leg as she moved to open the door for everybody else to leave.

"This was fun," Kai tells Cinder as he lingers behind, once Wolf and Scarlet have left. "We should hang out again."

"Yeah," Cinder agrees, with a frozen, forced smile on her face, because the evening was far from _fun_. "We should."

Once he's gone, she does the only natural thing she can do, which is throw herself on the couch and groan for about five minutes. Then, she eats a piece of the cake Scarlet baked (it's really good) and falls asleep, grumbling about the idiocy of booze.


End file.
